Sameness Points the Way

Excerpt from book pages 50-51. 

Sameness Points the Way

Why is sameness so easily seen as Connection? While sameness has its limitations, sameness also allows us to expand our definition of ourselves from separate to something greater.

Without Connection, we are separate individuals (Expression). When I join a group of people like me, now my sense of self is expanded. “I” becomes a “we” of people who are the same as me.

Me grows.

As our capacity for Connection grows, we now can see ourselves beyond the tribe and identify the sameness of humans. The “we” grows to include all of humanity. As Connection expands again, we now see animals, the planet, and nature as an even bigger “we.” Eventually, we expand until we are one with all of life, or even beyond this, where any sense of a self completely dissolves and we experience pure consciousness.

Figure 2. Expanding Levels of Sameness

While each of these layers requires an expanded lens and experience of Connection, each still is a slice or channel of Connection. Being able to access Connection at one layer does not mean that we can automatically experience it at the others. For example, you can experience oneness with nature and think humans are idiots. Or feel unconditional love for humanity but feel awkward at a dinner party.

In a way, each layer of sameness is simply a shift in how we are perceiving ourselves and the world around us. As we expand Connection, there are fewer and fewer definitions that divide us, fewer lines of distinction. Boundaries drop away, and we feel oneness, or even beyond that. Often through practices such as meditation or mindfulness, we experience a sense of pure awareness or consciousness.

Deep Connection brings us to our own awareness and the greater collective consciousness.